Rep. Michael Grimm, R-NY, is expected to be indicted by the U.S. attorney in New York according to reports, after being investigated for campaign finance violations. / Alex Wong, Getty Images

by Catalina Camia and Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY

by Catalina Camia and Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON -- New York Republican congressman Michael Grimm, the subject of a long criminal investigation into alleged campaign finance violations, is expecting to face criminal charges as soon as next week, his attorney said.

"After more than two years of investigation plagued by malicious leaks, violations of grand jury secrecy, and strong-arm tactics, the U.S. Attorney's Office has disclosed its intent to file criminal charges against Congressman Grimm,'' attorney William McGinley said in a statement. "We are disappointed by the government's decision, but hardly surprised.''

Grimm, a former FBI agent from Staten Island, was being targeted for allegedly soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals in exchange for assisting an Israeli man with obtaining a green card.

The House Ethics Committee deferred the matter to the Justice Department in 2012. The source of some of the initial allegations against Grimm came in 2010 from then-Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y. Weiner, who later resigned from Congress amid a sex scandal, said a prominent New York rabbi had informed him that Grimm allegedly tried to extort money from his congregation.

"From the beginning, the government has pursued a politically driven vendetta against Congressman Grimm and not an independent search for the truth,'' McGinley said. "Congressman Grimm asserts his innocence of any wrongdoing. When the dust settles, he will be vindicated. Until then, he will continue to serve his constituents with the same dedication and tenacity that has characterized his lifetime of public service as a member of Congress, Marine Corps combat veteran, and decorated FBI special agent."

Grimm, a second-term congressman, apologized in January for threatening a TV reporter on camera who attempted to ask him about the federal investigation after President Obama's State of the Union Address. Grimm said then that he "lost his cool" when he threatened to throw NY1 reporter Michael Scotto over a balcony and break him in half "like a boy."

Grimm, who represents a district based on Staten Island and Brooklyn, is being targeted for defeat by Democrats. President Obama carried New York's 11th Congressional District in 2012 with 52% of the vote.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group, called on Grimm to resign.

"Rep. Grimm has been on CREW's most corrupt list ever since he first joined Congress in 2011," executive director Melanie Sloan said Friday. "Year after year, Rep. Grimm has committed some other reprehensible misdeed. It is about time the criminal justice system caught up with him. How ironic that one of the few corrupt lawmakers the Department of Justice can bring itself to prosecute is also a former FBI agent."